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Monday, October 26, 2015

States Gear Up to Comply With Clean Power Plan While Also Preparing Lawsuits to Stop It

From Inside Climate News:

While opponents wait for the Obama administration’s carbon regulations to become official before suing to block them, state environmental agencies have been busy studying compliance options.

The Clean Power Plan, which requires states to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants 32 percent by 2030, is intended to help slow climate change resulting from the burning of fossil fuels. The plan has been the target of legal challenges and legislative campaigns since it was proposed in 2014 and finalized in August.

At least 14 states, including many in coal country, are gearing up to pursue litigation once the rule is finally published in the Federal Register, the official record of government regulations, which will likely happen tomorrow. Although the administration argues the Clean Power Plan will create economic opportunity—one study by economists predicted it will create a quarter of a million jobs— and speed up the transition to a clean energy economy, the rule’s opponents have claimed it will kill jobs and hurt local economies.

Once the rule is published in the Federal Register, states and others challenging the rule will have 60 days to file lawsuits.

While the rule’s opponents wait, however, state environmental and utility departments have begun contemplating their options for meeting the policy’s mandates.